Security changes made at Golden Gate after shooting

| Monday, April 18, 2005

Some changes have been made in security –
and overall security is being reviewed – at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge
after a toll worker was shot.

The toll worker was shot April 9 during
an attempted robbery, The Associated Press reported. And while she
carefully avoided saying security had been increased, Mary Currie, a
spokeswoman for the bridge, said that changes in security had been made in the
wake of the incident.

“Since the shooting that occurred last
weekend, we have simply changed our patrol patterns such that there’s a patrol
officer at the plaza now from time to time,” she said. “We’re working with the
union and the toll collectors looking at other safety/security mechanisms that
we may or may not implement. We’re reviewing our operations.”

Before the shooting, patrol officers were
stationed near the plaza, but now will occasionally be positioned at the toll
plaza. Currie said security was increased overall at the bridge after the
September 11th attacks.

Currie said she was not able to detail
other measures that might be taken.

“It’s too soon to say,” she said. “I
don’t know if we’d be releasing what we’re going to do anyway. It may be a
matter of security.”

Currie said she was not aware of any
additional precautions that drivers who use the bridge should make in the
aftermath of the shooting, other than “just don’t be waving guns at people.”

The toll worker who was injured remains
stable and is recovering, Currie said.

San Francisco police told The AP that
Marcellus Cooksey, 42, of San Francisco, is charged with two counts of
attempted murder, three gun charges and a robbery charge in the shooting.